


Your Scent On My Skin

by sinchun



Series: NCT Life in a Pack [6]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alpha Nakamoto Yuta, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst and Porn, Beta Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun, Break Up, Claiming Bites, Explicit Sexual Content, Jealousy, Knotting, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Multi, Mutual Pining, Omega Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung, Pack Dynamics, Plot With Porn, Polyamorous Pack, Rough Sex, Unresolved Ending, brief dowin action in ch 4, i didn't think it was that angsty but i think the comments disagree
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:08:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28056648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinchun/pseuds/sinchun
Summary: Jaehyun and Doyoung exchange claiming bites as trainees, but they have to let it go when Jaehyun debuts with NCT 127 and Doyoung doesn’t. Work keeps them apart, and Jaehyun fills the void by attaching himself to Yuta.Then Doyoung gets added to NCT 127.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Nakamoto Yuta, Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung & Lee Taeyong
Series: NCT Life in a Pack [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2043016
Comments: 22
Kudos: 189





	1. Jaehyun, 2014

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You don’t have to had read the rest of the series to follow this story, but personally I think this flows best if you’ve at least read [Lead](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27899764/chapters/68319259), which this serves as something of prequel to.
> 
> Characters are 17-19 in this chapter, which might be considered underaged depending on where you live. Fair warning.

Jaehyun is in his third year as a trainee when he presents. It’s not unexpected—he’s seventeen, the exact average age of presentation—but it still takes him by surprise when his body erupts into something that feels like the worst fever he’s ever experienced. They’re in the middle of dance practice when it hits, Jaehyun’s knees suddenly buckling as he moves to change formation.

Yuta and Ten catch him, and suddenly everyone is talking all at once. Jaehyun’s head feels so foggy, so hot, and he can’t keep track of what’s going on, but it seems that Taeyong has quickly assessed the situation, shooing Taeil and Johnny out of the room before either beta can get addled by the powerful pheromones that Jaehyun’s body is suddenly pumping out. “What’s going on?” Jaehyun manages to ask. His tongue feels thick, his limbs like jelly. He can barely hold himself up.

“You’re going into heat, love,” Ten tells him softly.

Still, Jaehyun can’t seem to follow the thread. “What?” he asks again.

Ten rubs his shoulder comfortingly. “You’re presenting.”

“I feel like I’m dying,” replies Jaehyun hoarsely, and Ten laughs, not unkindly.

“First heat is usually especially strong,” he says. “Let’s get you back to your room. Take the rest of the day off. Doyoung’s gone to get you some food and water.”

Jaehyun clings to Yuta as the three of them make their way back to the trainees’ dorm. _Yuta smells so good,_ Jaehyun thinks dimly. _How have I never noticed this before?_ He wants to bury his face in the older boy’s chest.

When they reach Jaehyun’s room, Yuta and Ten help him to lie down on his bed, but Jaehyun doesn’t let go of Yuta, pulling him in to cuddle. “Don’t go,” he murmurs and pushes his face into Yuta’s neck.

Ten laughs. “Easy there, sweetheart,” he says, squeezing Jaehyun’s leg.

Doyoung arrives with a bowl of soup and some water. His face is creased with worry as he coaxes Jaehyun into drinking. “We’ll take good care of you, Jaehyunnie,” he promises.

Yuta moves to disentangle himself from Jaehyun, easing himself off the bed, and Jaehyun cries at the sudden loss of contact. “Please!” he begs, not even really sure what he’s asking for.

He can hear Yuta, Ten, and Doyoung having a fiercely whispered conversation, but his mind feels too fuzzy to understand what it is they’re discussing. “I can stay with him,” offers Doyoung.

“You’re still a pup!” snaps Ten. “You won’t be able to provide the relief he needs.”

“Would Taeyong—” begins Yuta, but Ten cuts him off.

“No, we’re… we’re still claiming each other,” he says. “I could fetch one of the betas, maybe Johnny?”

There’s a pause, then Yuta says, “I’ll stay with him.”

Doyoung makes a whining noise, and Ten shushes him. “You’re sure?” he asks Yuta.

“I think he’s already chosen me,” murmurs Yuta. He sits back down on the bed, and Jaehyun immediately curls around him.

“Please,” he repeats, nuzzling his face into Yuta’s belly. The older boy smells unbelievably alluring. Jaehyun wants nothing more than to be touched everywhere by him. His brain barely registers the sound of Doyoung and Ten leaving.

Yuta strokes a hand through his sweaty hair. “It’s gonna be okay, Jaehyunnie,” he says soothingly.

Jaehyun practically purrs, melting into Yuta’s touch. He mouths at the fabric of Yuta’s shirt and feels proud when the alpha laughs. “I want,” he mumbles.

“What do you want?” asks Yuta. With his hand in Jaehyun’s hair, he pulls the younger boy’s head back from his stomach to look into his eyes.

“I want you.”

Yuta tightens his grip in Jaehyun’s hair. “Be more specific.”

Jaehyun whines and twists into an upright position. “I want you to touch me,” he whispers. His body still feels so unbearably hot, and _wet_ , but somehow he knows that Yuta’s touch will make it feel better.

Letting his hand drop from Jaehyun’s hair to his face, Yuta brushes his fingers over his lips and asks, “Here?”

“Please,” whines Jaehyun, and then they’re kissing—lips and teeth and tongue—but it’s not _enough_. He needs more. He says as much, the words coming out thin and needy and swallowed by Yuta’s mouth on his.

“Tell me what you need,” Yuta murmurs, moving his hands to Jaehyun’s side to rub soothing circles into his skin where his shirt has ridden up.

The wetness dripping down between Jaehyun’s thighs increases the more Yuta touches him, and words come to Jaehyun’s mouth without him thinking about it, driven by his basest biology: “I need your knot.”

Yuta’s breath hitches. “Oh, baby, are you sure?” he asks, licking his lips.

“Please, I’m sure, I need your knot, please, alpha,” Jaehyun babbles. He hadn’t really intended to call Yuta “alpha,” had meant to say “hyung,” but a different title slipped out instead. Before he can get embarrassed about it, he sees the way the word has made Yuta’s eyes go dark and hungry, just as eager as Jaehyun feels.

“Will you be a good boy for me?” asks Yuta, and Jaehyun nods frantically and promises to be good, promises to do anything if it means that Yuta will give him the relief he so desperately craves.

Yuta lays him back on his bed and undresses him slowly, teasing him with touches and kisses to his skin as more of it is revealed. Pulling down Jaehyun’s pants, he dips to press a kiss to his hipbones, drawing a gasp out of Jaehyun. Then he puts his lips to Jaehyun’s painfully hard cock and draws a strangled cry out of him. Only then does Yuta set about removing his own clothing.

Jaehyun whines at him until finally, he returns his hands to his cock, which is leaking pre-cum. Jaehyun isn’t sure if he’s wetter there or from his slick. “Alpha, please,” he begs. “Need you to knot me.”

"I will, baby, I will,” Yuta promises in a husky voice. He murmurs compliments to Jaehyun as he works him open with his fingers. “So wet and perfect. Gonna look so good with my cock in you.”

Jaehyun whimpers and squirms on his bed, doing his best to fuck himself down on Yuta’s hand. He nearly sobs with wanting when Yuta removes his fingers, only to sigh with relief when he slides in with his cock. “Oh, _thank_ you,” he pants out.

Yuta fucks him at a steady tempo, his sense of rhythm just as sure as it is during dance practice. With one hand he holds tight to Jaehyun’s hip. With the other, he strokes his length until Jaehyun comes all over his stomach with a gasp. Then Yuta comes too, grunting and thrusting in deep to fill Jaehyun with the knot he so desperately craves.

It feels like they fuck for two days straight, pausing only to sleep or rehydrate and eat the snacks various friends quietly bring them. Jaehyun is sure that his room must stink of sweat and slick and cum, but all he can really smell is Yuta’s comforting scent.

Then, after the second day, his heat breaks—and turns into something entirely different. Suddenly, Jaehyun can’t stand Yuta’s presence and flinches away from him. “Don’t touch me!” he growls.

Yuta’s face pinches, then clears in understanding. “Ah,” he says calmly. “So you’re a beta.”

Rationally, Jaehyun knows what that means. He understands that he’s now going into a rut, that his biology now craves the touch of an omega. His instincts now read Yuta as competition, and he snarls at the alpha. “Get out of my room!”

“It’s okay, Jaehyunnie,” says Yuta, but his tone rubs Jaehyun the wrong way, and he lunges forward to shove him towards the door. As his hands collide with Yuta’s chest, the older boy lets out a yelp, followed by a curse.

“Leave!” hisses Jaehyun, eyes narrowed furiously.

The commotion brings Taeyong and Ten running to the room. “What is going on?” asks Ten.

Yuta wrenches himself away from Jaehyun. “He’s a beta and he’s rutting. Someone get him an omega,” he replies testily.

As though the only omega in their cohort isn’t already standing right there.

Just in the way Yuta’s scent had been so appealing to him the day before, Jaehyun finds himself now drawn towards Ten. “Ten-hyung,” he begins in a needy voice, but Taeyong firmly plants himself between the two.

“That’s enough of that, Jaehyun.” Taeyong bares his teeth in the smallest of warning growls. “You _know_ Ten is claimed right now.”

It’s true that Jaehyun can smell it on Ten, a possessive scent left by Taeyong’s claiming bite. He never noticed it before he presented, but it’s impossible to ignore now. Still, his rut drives him to growl back at Taeyong.

“If you don’t calm down, I’ll have to get a manager,” warns Taeyong.

“Fuck it, I’ll go get one now,” Yuta mutters, but before he can move, the door flies open again to reveal Doyoung, flushed and panting, his eyes blown as he takes in the chaotic scene before him.

“Jaehyun,” he gasps.

Jaehyun turns to him, and _oh._ He had thought Ten smelled good but it’s nothing compared to how delicious Doyoung smells. He pushes past the other three boys to reach him. The moment he wraps his arms around him, Doyoung lets out a relieved whimper.

“What even?” asks Ten, his voice laced with irritation.

“He’s in heat. Jaehyun’s rut must have triggered his presentation,” Taeyong replies and rubs his temples wearily.

Jaehyun scoops Doyoung up and carries him to his bed. His biology is screaming at him to knot him right then and there, but he has enough presence of mind to snarl at Yuta, Ten, and Taeyong to leave first.

They don’t need to be asked twice, clearing out of the room as fast as possible.

“Jaehyun, Jaehyun, Jaehyun,” Doyoung whines. He tugs at Jaehyun frantically, pressing himself as close as he can.

“I’m here, darling,” croons Jaehyun. Setting Doyoung gingerly down on the bed, he pauses to admire the older boy—the delicate arch of his neck, his beautiful dark eyes, how soft and pert his mouth looks—then leans down to kiss him hungrily.

Doyoung responds immediately, licking into his mouth and begging for Jaehyun to touch him more.

So Jaehyun does. He trails his hands down Doyoung’s chest, palms him through his pants. “Already so hard,” he murmurs.

“I need you to fuck me,” whispers Doyoung. His gaze is glassy with want, and when Jaehyun tugs down his pants and boxers in one go, he finds that it’s not just his eyes that are wet. Doyoung’s thighs are slippery with slick.

Jaehyun immediately ducks to kiss his thighs, licking the slick off his skin with slow swipes of his tongue. “You taste amazing,” he tells Doyoung fervently, and Doyoung whines, a drawn-out keening sound low in his throat that makes Jaehyun want him even more—something he would’ve thought was impossible.

He already wants Doyoung so badly.

Pressing his mouth next to the scent gland on Doyoung’s left thigh, Jaehyun begins to suck and bite, driven by some primal desire to cover Doyoung in his marks. He leaves hickeys all over his thighs, careful to avoid the scent glands for fear of breaking the skin and causing permanent damage, then moves up Doyoung’s body. He peels off his shirt to kiss his chest, nibbling and sucking until he’s satisfied with the bruises beginning to form in stark contrast to Doyoung’s milky skin.

“Jaehyunnie, _please_ ,” begs Doyoung. “I want you inside of me.”

“I will be. It’s okay, darling,” promises Jaehyun. He runs a finger down Doyoung’s spine, between the crease of his ass to press teasingly at his puckered opening.

“Please,” Doyoung repeats, voice more frantic, and Jaehyun obliges, sliding his finger in and delighting in the way it makes Doyoung’s breath hitch.

 _This is how it was meant to be,_ Jaehyun thinks. He’d always been attracted to Doyoung, always craved his attention and affection, always wanted to be the one to make him laugh, make him happy. He adds another finger and crooks them, gunning for another noise of pleasure spilling from Doyoung’s mouth.

“Fingers not enough,” mumbles Doyoung. “Need your cock. Please, Jaehyun.”

And, well, Jaehyun aims to please Doyoung, always, so he removes his fingers, drops another kiss to Doyoung’s inner thigh, and—

Doyoung’s back arches off the mattress as Jaehyun enters him. He is beautiful and sensual and perfect. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he gasps, and he is so, so tight around Jaehyun’s cock.

“You fit me perfectly,” Jaehyun praises and digs his fingernails deep into the soft flesh of Doyoung’s ass as he thrusts in. He is being harsher, more vigorous than Yuta was with him, he knows, and it doesn’t take a genius to realize that if their first round is already this aggressive, this cycle is liable to leave Doyoung absolutely _wrecked._ But it’s hard for Jaehyun to worry about that when he slams into Doyoung, and Doyoung makes such a pretty little whimpering noise.

“I just wanna be good for you,” Doyoung tells him breathlessly, throwing his arms around Jaehyun’s shoulders to hold him close as they fuck.

Jaehyun kisses him messily and assures him, “You’re _so_ good for me.” He takes pleasure in bringing Doyoung to orgasm, then smears his cum across his stomach with a delighted, “Fuck, that’s so hot, darling.”

Doyoung wraps his legs around Jaehyun and kisses his neck, his lips brushing dangerously close to Jaehyun’s scent glands there. “Will you knot me?” he asks. “Please?”

“Anything you want,” promises Jaehyun. As though the idea of knotting Doyoung doesn’t send a rush of excitement echoing through his body. His knot swells as he nears his peak. “I’m gonna—” he barely has the chance to warn Doyoung before pressing even further into him.

Doyoung moans as Jaehyun’s knot pushes inside of him, his voice beautiful and broken and begging, still, for Jaehyun to fill him up. His garbled cry is what finally pushes Jaehyun over the edge. And Doyoung—Doyoung _thanks_ him for his cum.

Jaehyun chokes on a groan as he rides out his orgasm. He claws frantically at Doyoung, tugs sharply on his hair, pulls him close for a searing kiss. Their bodies lock together. How it was meant to be.

When they finally are able to pull apart, they stay close to each other. Jaehyun rubs circles along Doyoung’s shoulders, and Doyoung presses wet kisses to his neck until their biology drives them to couple again.

That’s the thing about them being a rut and a heat at the same time. They’re both constantly on edge, wired up and wanting. Jaehyun loses count of how many times he knots Doyoung before they fall asleep, curled up together.

His rut ends before Doyoung’s heat, the fog around his head clearing a little. He still gives Doyoung the touch he needs, still does everything he can to please him, but there’s less of a frenetic energy to it.

It’s nice to feel a little more in control of himself.

He peppers Doyoung’s body with kisses, hand-feeds him the food their friends have continued to bring by. He shivers every time Doyoung’s tongue touches his fingers. “You’re doing so good,” he praises when Doyoung finishes eating the BBQ pork jerky, again when Doyoung clenches tight around his knot, and again, when Doyoung wrings yet another orgasm out of him.

When Doyoung’s heat finally breaks, and doesn’t turn into a rut like it did for Jaehyun, they know that he’s an omega. “You’re perfect,” Jaehyun says, his instincts already telling him to heap compliments and adoration upon Doyoung.

Not that he needed much more of an excuse to do that.

Laid across his bed Doyoung looks small and delicate, precious. Jaehyun wonders if he should feel sorry for the mess of hickeys and scratches he’s left all across his body, but Doyoung just smiles happily up at him. “Thank you for taking such good care of me, Jaehyunnie,” Doyoung murmurs, as though he wasn’t taking care of Jaehyun as just much.

Jaehyun caresses his face, brushing the pad of his thumb over the older boy’s nose and cheekbone and lips. The time for passion has passed but the urge to be tender with him remains. “I’m always happy to take care of you, Doyoung-hyung,” he tells him, and he means it.

They spent the rest of the morning cleaning up. They strip the dirty sheets from Jaehyun’s bed, and they shower, and they get ready to rejoin everyone else for the afternoon’s vocal training session. Doyoung presses one last kiss to the corner of Jaehyun’s mouth before they go.

When they enter the practice room together, their friends greet them with wolf-whistles and affectionate jeers. Taeyong is the first to skip over to them. “Welcome back to the land of the living,” he teases and gives Jaehyun a big hug.

Jaehyun returns his hug with a happy laugh, then remembers their brief confrontation a few days prior. “Sorry for being rude when I first started my rut,” he mumbles, embarrassed, and buries his face into the older boy’s hair.

“I know how hard presenting is,” says Taeyong sympathetically. “It’d be hypocritical of me to blame you for being extra aggressive.”

“I’m still sorry,” Jaehyun tells him. He steps away to find Yuta. He feels like he definitely owes him both a thank you for helping him with his heat and an apology for his behavior when it turned into a rut.

Taeyong, meanwhile, turns to Doyoung, and— “Jesus Christ, Jaehyun, what did you do to him?” he exclaims, scandalized, when he sees the bruising all over his body.

“I’m fine!” Doyoung says defensively, then immediately undercuts his statement but wincing when Taeyong puts his arms around in him the gentlest of hugs.

Haechan makes a disgusted face. “That looks so painful. I hope I’m not an omega.”

“Fuck off,” mutters Doyoung. He rests his head against Taeyong’s shoulder. “I liked it.”

A blush spreads across Jaehyun’s face at his words. He ducks his head to avoid the incredulous look Haechan throws in his direction, until he reaches Yuta. “Hey,” he says, feeling strangely shy for the fact that the older boy had his cock inside of him literally less than a week ago. “Um, I just wanted to say thank you. And also, uh, that I’m sorry.”

Yuta laughs and pulls him into a headlock, ruffling his hair affectionately. “You’re fine, Jaehyunnie. I know how it goes,” he says. “I was happy to help, and there’s no hard feelings about the way you, uh, asked me to leave.”

“I appreciate that,” replies Jaehyun gratefully. “Really, I do.”

“What are friends for, right?” Yuta asks good-naturedly.

Jaehyun nods, but he’s watching Doyoung across the room. Graceful despite the soreness and bruising inflicted upon him, Doyoung steps back from Taeyong with a breathtaking smile, and Jaehyun hopes that maybe it’s not always just about friendship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uh, did any of you see the dojae coming haha? I did my best to pepper hints to it into all of the previous stories (except for "Amaryllis and Yarrow").


	2. Doyoung, 2015

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for the faintest mentions of blood when they give each other claiming bites, and also for, uhhhh, a weird cuckholdesque sex scene.

Exchanging claiming bites is Jaehyun’s idea. Doyoung isn’t against it, because he can’t imagine being with anyone else, but he’s worried. He asks Jaehyun, “Are you sure you want this? What if you go into heat? You know I wouldn’t be any help to you then.”

Jaehyun kisses him. “I’ll only go into heat if someone else’s rut pheromones get to me, and I don’t think that should be an issue if you’ve claimed me. I want this,” he says, his voice soft with sincerity. “I want you.”

Doyoung wants him too. He wants him so badly. Even before he presented, he wanted Jaehyun. How could he not? The boy is kind and handsome and if Doyoung’s been nursing a crush on him since they met, who could blame him for it? With Jaehyun’s solid frame and competitive streak, Doyoung had figured the younger boy would present as an alpha, and in his adolescent infatuation, he had hoped that he himself would present as an omega.

And, well, he did. And Doyoung’s glad that he did, even though Jaehyun is a beta and not an alpha. It doesn’t change how Doyoung feels about him. Just head over heels, stupidly smitten.

So of course, he agrees to Jaehyun’s request to exchange claiming bites.

They choose a rare Saturday afternoon that’s been left open in their schedules. Curling up together in Doyoung’s bed, they waste time lazily making out. Doyoung cards his fingers through Jaehyun’s soft hair, pulls him close, kisses him tenderly. He wonders if it conveys just how dear he holds the other boy in his heart.

Jaehyun nibbles on his lower lip, then swipes into his mouth with his tongue when Doyoung moans. “Have I ever told you that you make the _prettiest_ noises?” he murmurs.

“You may have, ah, mentioned it a few times,” replies Doyoung, shivering as Jaehyun ghosts his lips down his jawline to the sensitive spot on his neck right next to one of his scent glands. He knows that Jaehyun won’t bite the gland. To do so would be irreversible—a mating bite. Puncturing the skin there would set off a chemical reaction within his body by mixing the pheromones from someone else’s saliva with his blood, subtly modifying his biology to complement his mate’s. There’s something terribly erotic about its permanence, even if it’s not something Doyoung is ready to commit to.

Maybe someday, in the far off future.

Jaehyun kisses down his throat, lips purposeful in their path. He knows all the ways that Doyoung likes to be touched. When he reaches the base of Doyoung’s neck, he kisses him one last time before coming back up to look Doyoung in the eye. “Will you bite me first?” he asks, sounding bashful.

Doyoung doesn’t need to be asked twice. The idea of making Jaehyun _his_ , even temporarily, is intoxicating. “Where do you want it?”

Jaehyun thinks for a moment, then goes to remove his shirt. “On my shoulder.”

Unlike the mating bites on the scent gland, claiming bites don’t last. Instead of permanently altering your biology, they leave a stronger and longer-lasting scent-marking than the usual sort of scenting that a pack partakes in. Claiming bites serve to warn others away, but they fade away over time. They need to be maintained in order to keep.

Doyoung runs his hands over Jaehyun’s bare torso, cradles him close. He puts his mouth to Jaehyun’s shoulder and breathes in his alluring scent, before sinking his teeth into the skin. As the faintest sparkling of blood releases, Jaehyun hisses, and Doyoung strokes a hand through his hair comfortingly. After releasing the bite, he licks once over the tiny wound, then smiles at Jaehyun. “Your turn.”

“Any preferences for where you want yours?” asks Jaehyun, and Doyoung thinks about it.

He _wants_ it on his neck, but he knows that’d be too obvious. Even if it’s only a shallow bite that heals quickly, it would be too noticeable for that brief period of time for someone working towards a career in public appearances. “How about by my hip?” he suggests.

Jaehyun grins, gaze affectionate. “I can do that.”

Doyoung tugs his shirt up, while Jaehyun peels his jeans down just enough to reveal a patch of skin just above his hipbone. When Jaehyun bites down, Doyoung sucks in a sharp breath. The little incisions are surprising more than painful, and then Jaehyun’s tongue is soothing over them.

Feeling warm and fuzzy inside, Doyoung pulls Jaehyun in for a tight embrace. They kiss again, and Doyoung delights in the smell of his own scent underlining Jaehyun’s.

“Thank you,” whispers Jaehyun, pressing his nose against Doyoung’s neck. “I’m really glad that… Thank you for claiming me.”

“Of course,” Doyoung whispers back. “I’m happy to have your bite as well.”

They don’t discuss the nature of their relationship. Did they exchange claiming bites just for the convenience of always knowing that you’ll have someone, and they’re good friends so why not? Or does it mean more?

It means more to Doyoung, but he’s afraid to say it out loud. What if that’s not how Jaehyun sees it? What if admitting the extent of his feelings scares him off? The claiming bites are enough. They have to be.

And it’s fine. Jaehyun avoids going into heat, only entering rut when he stays with Doyoung to help him with his own heat. They pass nearly a year like that, caught up in each other as their other presented friends move through their own entanglements. Doyoung is faintly aware of it when Taeyong and Ten decide to let their claiming bites lapse, like the world’s most amicable breakup, but he doesn’t really pay attention to it. He’s fully focused on Jaehyun.

But then sometime happens. An accident. There’s a new alpha in their trainee group—Kun—and when his rut comes a day early, the pheromones send Jaehyun spiraling into heat.

Doyoung helps him back to his room, helps him gather his blankets and sweatshirts into a cozy nest, helps him every way he can, but he can tell it’s not enough. He’s well-versed in what it’s like to go through a heat, after all. “Shh, sweetie, it’s okay,” he murmurs, smoothing a hand through Jaehyun’s sweaty hair.

“Please,” whimpers Jaehyun, and Doyoung leans down to kiss him.

He knows exactly what Jaehyun is asking for. With gentle hands, he strokes up Jaehyun’s inner thigh to work him open with his fingers. It’s a strange role reversal from their usual, but Doyoung doesn’t mind. Not for Jaehyun.

Making an impatient noise low in his throat, Jaehyun clambers up into Doyoung’s lap. “Want to ride you,” he says, whining.

“I’m yours,” replies Doyoung. “Anything you want.” He lies back on Jaehyun’s bed and lets the younger boy fuck himself on his cock. He presses his fingers into Jaehyun’s hips, holding him steady as he bounces up and down and murmurs encouraging compliments. “You feel so good, Jaehyunnie, so good and perfect on my cock.”

“Please, please, please, I want your knot,” Jaehyun whimpers, but of course, Doyoung doesn’t have a knot to give him. They both know it, but still Jaehyun begs. “Please, I need to be knotted.”

Doyoung know it’s not enough.

On the second day, Doyoung can’t stand it anymore. “Do you want me to find an alpha for you?” he asks quietly. He doesn’t like the idea of someone else fucking Jaehyun, but watching him suffer through a heat he can’t help with is worse.

Jaehyun’s face twists, the claiming desire to only be Doyoung’s warring with the heat desire to have an alpha. He squeezes his eyes shut, looking small and agonized. Then he asks, “Can you get Yuta?”

 _It shouldn’t be surprising,_ thinks Doyoung. After all, Yuta is the only other person Jaehyun has ever been with. “I’ll ask him,” he promises. He ventures out, finds Yuta near the vending machines, and quietly explains the situation.

Getting Yuta to agree to it is harder than Doyoung had foreseen.

“I know that you’ve claimed him!” snaps Yuta. “He’s just going to smell like you.”

“Am I… Surely, my scent isn’t _that_ repulsive to you,” Doyoung mutters, annoyed, and honestly, a little surprised. It’s not like and Yuta don’t get along. They’re friends, decently good ones, Doyoung would argue. _I guess it’s just the wildly uncomfortable request._

Yuta gives him a steely look, so Doyoung tries a different approach. Jutting his bottom lip out into the barest hint of a pout, he affects the pliant, persuasive tone of an omega. “Please, Yuta,” he all but begs. “For Jaehyun?”

The sharpness in Yuta’s eyes lessens. It seems he has a soft spot for Jaehyun. Doyoung can’t blame him—who wouldn’t? Yuta sighs. “Fine. But don’t be weird about it.”

 _How can I not be?_ wonders Doyoung. _The whole situation is weird._

When they return to Jaehyun’s room, they are greeted by the sight of Jaehyun on his bed with his legs spread wide, pumping his fingers in and out of himself. Yuta cusses quietly under his breath, his face immediately coloring as he frantically looks away.

“He’s in heat. What were you expecting?” Doyoung says snidely.

“Doyoung, shut up,” retorts Yuta.

While they snipe at each other, Jaehyun sits up and reluctantly pulls his hand away from himself. “Please,” he whines in an abstract way that really doesn’t make it clear who is talking to.

“Doyoung…” Yuta begins hesitantly, his tone strikingly different from a moment earlier.

“Go ahead,” says Doyoung. He nudges Yuta towards Jaehyun. “Go work your alpha magic.”

Yuta scoffs, but when he sits down on the bed next to Jaehyun, his gaze is soft. “Hi there, baby,” he murmurs and reaches a hand out to rub comforting circles on the younger boy’s forearm.

Jaehyun leans into his touch, and Doyoung can see some of the tension seep out of his body. _Alpha magic, indeed._ Jealousy twists in Doyoung’s gut. For the first time, he wishes he had been a beta. Then Jaehyun wouldn’t have needed help from anyone else. He sighs, then makes to go— _I should give them privacy—_ but Jaehyun’s voice stops him in his tracks.

“Will you stay? Please?”

Oh.

Doyoung wasn’t expecting that. Panicked, he meets Yuta’s dark gaze over Jaehyun’s head. Yuta rolls his eyes, as if to say, _If you must,_ so Doyoung settles himself on the edge of the bed. He tries to not to look uncomfortable as he watches the boy he loves with someone else.

Jaehyun presses himself against Yuta. “Please, alpha, I need you,” he begs.

“I’m here,” promises Yuta. He kisses Jaehyun once before Jaehyun squirms away, turning over and presenting the wetness between his legs to the alpha. Doyoung doesn’t miss the way Yuta’s eyes catch on his shoulder, on the healing scab of the claiming bite Doyoung had only recently renewed.

“Need you to fuck me,” says Jaehyun. Frantic. Desperate. Some distant part of Doyoung’s brain wonders if this is also what he sounds like he’s in heat.

Yuta murmurs assurances that he’ll fuck him and he shimmies out of his pants. Doyoung resolutely doesn’t look at his dick when it springs free of his boxers. Instead, he fixes his gaze on Jaehyun’s face, which is turned towards him as he wiggles his ass back towards Yuta.

“Alpha, _please_ ,” Jaehyun whines, but his dark eyes are locked on Doyoung’s.

Doyoung feels vaguely like he’s having an out of body experience. This is the weirdest fucking thing that’s ever happened to him. He hasn’t have anything against threesomes. At least, he doesn’t think he does. He’s never had the chance to test that theory out. But this is decidedly not a threesome. This is him playing witness to Yuta and Jaehyun.

And when Yuta thrusts his cock into Jaehyun with a quiet grunt, Doyoung swears he feels the claiming bite on his hip twinge.

It’s a frenetic and messy coupling. Yuta fucks Jaehyun bent over the bed, reaching one hand around him, and Jaehyun lets loose with a string of whimpers and whines, begging until he comes all over Yuta’s hand with a strangled cry. “Knot me, knot me, knot me,” he pleads.

“I will, baby,” promises Yuta, his voice a low growl.

Doyoung hates hearing the pet name. He wants to smack Yuta. He wants to storm out of the room. But for Jaehyun’s sake, he’s committed to sit there and play nice. He maintains eye contact with Jaehyun through Yuta’s orgasm.

As Yuta knots him, Jaehyun reaches out and grabs Doyoung hand, holding it deathly tight in his. _This is the weirdest fucking thing,_ thinks Doyoung for a second time. He tries to smile at Jaehyun, stroking his thumb comfortingly over his knuckles, but on the inside he feels like he’s dying, because Jaehyun and Yuta are literally stuck together by the latter’s knot, and Doyoung just has to sit there and be present for it.

It’s unspeakably uncomfortable.

When Yuta’s knot finally goes down, he slips out of Jaehyun with a soft groan. “You were so good for me, baby,” he praises and pets Jaehyun on the back.

“Thank you,” whispers Jaehyun. His gaze hasn’t strayed from Doyoung’s face. His grip on Doyoung’s hand hasn’t relaxed, and he uses it to pull himself forward and ask for a kiss.

Feeling all too aware of Yuta’s eyes on them, Doyoung leans forward to press a light kiss to Jaehyun’s lips. “How are you feeling?”

Jaehyun smiles, looking sleepy and satisfied. “Better,” he admits and snuggles into Doyoung’s arms with a yawn.

Doyoung would like nothing more than to curl up alone with Jaehyun, but he knows it would be cruel to ask Yuta to fuck Jaehyun and then leave without any aftercare and cuddles, so he begrudgingly beckons the alpha to join them.

It doesn’t take long for Jaehyun to fall asleep. He’s clearly exhausted. Once he’s asleep, Yuta shifts, sits up in bed. He brushes his fingers over Jaehyun’s shoulder, over his claiming bite. Doyoung instinctively lets out a quiet growl, and Yuta laughs. “You’re rather possessive, aren’t you?” His voice is low, his tone dangerously smooth.

Doyoung grits his teeth. “I’ve claimed him,” he says stiffly. “It’s my right to be.”

“I never said it wasn’t,” says Yuta. He slips out of the bed, throws on his pants, and heads for the door.

“Where are you going?” Doyoung asks crossly. “His heat isn’t over yet.”

Yuta rolls his eyes. “I’m not sticking around for your lovey-dovey snuggle-bugging. Come grab me again if he needs another fucking later,” he says sharply.

Doyoung resists the urge to snap something rude after him as he leaves, but only barely. _What is his problem?_ he wonders, aggravated. Then, in a moment of stunning self-awareness, he wonders if maybe the problem lies with himself. _Was I unnecessarily rude to a friend who was ultimately doing Jaehyun a favor? Did I cling too much to Jaehyun? Were my feelings too obvious?_

What a mess.

Hoping to soothe the turbulent storm inside his head, Doyoung curls himself around Jaehyun, taking comfort in his closeness until he too falls into unconsciousness.

Jaehyun’s heat is more manageable in the morning. When Doyoung asks if he wants Yuta again, Jaehyun shakes his head. “I think…” he says and presses his face into the crook of Doyoung’s neck. “I don’t think it should be too much longer, and I’d rather just have you, if that’s okay?”

“Of _course_ that’s okay,” murmurs Doyoung. He kisses Jaehyun’s ear. “I’m here for you, whatever you need.”

“Will you fuck me?” asks Jaehyun hopefully, and Doyoung smiles.

“Anything you want,” he promises. He is gentle with Jaehyun, a stark contrast to the way Yuta had been with him the day before. He wants Jaehyun to feel loved, even if he is too afraid to say the words out loud.

He holds Jaehyun in his lap as he fingerfucks him open, keeping his lips pressed to the younger boy’s jawline. Then he lays him back on the bed, lines his cock up with his slick-wet hole, and presses in.

Jaehyun gasps, reaches greedy hands up to hug Doyoung as they fuck. Their slow and soft pacing makes it feel somehow more intimate than usual. Doyoung kisses his cheek, his neck, his lips. He is so hungry for Jaehyun.

Later, when Jaehyun’s heat ends, he asks for some alone time to clear his head.

Doyoung can’t blame him for needing some space after the dual attentions of Yuta and him, so he drops a kiss to Jaehyun’s temple then heads out. He could probably use some sort of distraction to clear his head too.

Luckily, distraction comes quickly in the form of Taeyong inviting him into a practice room to give some feedback on a new song he’s been working on. Doyoung is more than happy to sit down with him. They’ve always collaborated together well, and Taeyong’s creativity is fascinating to Doyoung.

He listens to the rudimentary demo Taeyong has put together. The song is slow and pensive, almost sad but not quite, and it cuts straight to the strange feeling that Doyoung has been drowning in. When the song ends, he removes the headphones and just looks at Taeyong, unsure what to say. He’s so emotionally drained at the moment.

“What do you think?” asks Taeyong. He looks so bright and excited that Doyoung thinks that if he had a tail, it would be wagging.

Doyoung manages a smile. “It’s good, hyung,” he says, and it is. It’s rough still, but Doyoung can already envision it fleshed out and fully produced.

Taeyong grins. He fiddles with the wires of the headphones, then blurts out, “I want to perform it at the rookies show next month.”

“Okay,” says Doyoung slowly. He can tell that there’s a question on the tip of Taeyong’s tongue, but he’s not sure what.

“And I’d like you to sing it with me.”

Doyoung arches an eyebrow. “Sing? There’s not even a vocal part,” he points out. “I’m no rapper.”

“Well, yeah, I was wondering if you’d want to write a melody for it with me?” Taeyong asks, hopeful. Doyoung hesitates, and Taeyong continues, “I can’t imagine it with anyone else’s voice.”

“Yeah, sure,” agrees Doyoung, secretly pleased that Taeyong thinks so highly of him. _And working on a song would be nice change of pace for my brain._

Still, as he plays around with chords on the piano and tosses ideas back and forth with Taeyong, Doyoung finds his train of thought falling back to Jaehyun and how ugly his behavior got with Yuta because of his possessiveness. He tries to imagine if Jaehyun had asked him to get Taeyong instead. Somehow, with the other alpha, it doesn’t bother him as much. He figures it’s because Yuta was the one who had helped Jaehyun through his first heat when he presented, the one who took his virginity. He knows it’s jealousy, and he doesn’t like feeling jealous, doesn’t like himself when he lashes out because of it.

Eventually he and Taeyong call it quits on songwriting for the day. The melody isn’t coming so easily. “Let’s revisit this later,” suggests Doyoung with a weary sigh, and Taeyong turns the conversation to his dreams for the future.

Taeyong is looking forward to the rookies show next month, and he thinks that they might be headed for a proper debut early next year, but he’s not sure. “Maybe once we debut, we’ll finally be able to form a real pack,” he says excitedly.

It’s true that their trainee group has been functioning as something of an unofficial pack for the past however many years. But the company discouraged them from establishing actual pack bonds, so they lack the organization and commitment of a real pack. They have no lead alpha. There’s no precedent for scent-marking. They aren’t as attuned to the subtle changes in each other’s scents that signal distress or joy.

“A pack would be nice,” Doyoung agrees. He thinks that solidifying the bonds between their group might help with his weirdness regarding Jaehyun and Yuta and relationships in general.

Taeyong leans his head against Doyoung’s shoulder, and Doyoung absent-mindedly brings his hand up to run his fingers through the older boy’s hair. “Man, you smell like Jaehyun,” says Taeyong with a laugh. “Have you two been scenting each other?”

Doyoung smiles to himself. There’s something endearing about the older boy’s obliviousness. “We’ve been pretty close recently,” he says.

Taeyong nods, accepting Doyoung’s non-answer. “Cute.”

He doesn’t mean anything by it, because he doesn’t _know_ , but Doyoung can’t help but wonder if his claiming bite with Jaehyun is just that: cute and impermanent and kind of childish, much in the way scenting is when you don’t belong to a pack.

The thought is unsettling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know there’s a weird undercurrent of “if you’re in heat, you need an alpha” here. I don’t think this line of thinking applies to this AU in general, but the boys are still pretty young here (18-20) so they’re not good at thinking outside the (heteronormative, for lack of a better word) box.
> 
> Those of you who read [Lead](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27899764) might remember a moment were Yuta kisses Jaehyun then gets chased out of the kitchen by Doyoung. To Taeyong, who carries the POV in that fic, it doesn’t register as anything weird, but you best believe that Doyoung was SEETHING about having to see yujae PDA.
> 
> Also, also, you can headcanon the song that Taeyong and Doyoung work on at the end as either “Switch Off” or “Peace of Mind,” and you won’t really be wrong either way.


	3. Jaehyun, 2016

The thrill of debuting is marred by the sorrow of separating from the trainee group that Jaehyun has come to view as something of a family. It feels like such a slap in the face when the company announces the lineups for 127 and Dream, and not everyone from their cohort is included. No Johnny or Kun. No Jungwoo or Lucas. Even Doyoung and Ten, who had been a part of the original NCT U promotion, are left out.

Saying goodbye to Doyoung is the most painful part of it.

In the months leading up to the 127 debut, they slowly stop maintaining their claiming bites. “It just wouldn’t make sense anymore,” says Doyoung sadly. “You’ll be busy with 127 stuff, and the company has work for me planned elsewhere. When would we even get to see each other?”

Jaehyun knows he’s right. _It just wouldn’t make sense anymore._ He holds tightly to Doyoung foras long as he can, ghosting his fingers over his hipbone and trying to memorize the faint feeling of the claiming bite before it disappears.

Doyoung hugs him back, presses his face into his neck. Jaehyun is surprised to feel a wetness there—from Doyoung’s silent tears. He is even more surprised to realize numbly that he is also crying.

They kiss, soft and sweet, and Jaehyun wonders if it will be for the last time.

Doyoung’s scent fades away from him, and Jaehyun misses it every day. He had gotten so used to be Doyoung’s. Without it, he feels unsettled in his own skin. He feels lost.

The company moves the members of 127 and Dream into an apartment building close by. In the dorm assigned to 127, Jaehyun shares a room with Taeil and Winwin now. “Beta bros!” declares Taeil cheerfully as they unpack during the move-in.

There’s an excitement buzzing in the air that extends beyond the elation over debuting. The twelve of them—127 and Dream—have decided, now that they’re no longer trainees, to form a proper pack. The bonds formed by doing so will be a nice support structure to have throughout the craziness that is working as an idol group.

By tradition, the strongest alpha in the pack would become the leader after forcing the other alphas into submission. But they don’t subscribe to that old school nonsense. As a group, they discuss and decide who they want leading the pack.

Of the five presented members, there is really only one obvious choice. Jaehyun is too emotionally frazzled. Winwin is too private and reserved. Taeil isn’t interested in leadership. Yuta claims he isn’t either. That leaves Taeyong, who has already been selected by the company to head up their group musically, who has always displayed strong leadership qualities, and who is clearly invested in personal growth of every member.

 _He really would be the ideal lead alpha,_ Jaehyun must admit.

Taeyong reacts humbly when the group asks him to accept the title of lead alpha. His surprise at the request would be irritating if it were’t so sincere. He beckons everyone in for a group hug, and ends up with his nose right up against Jaehyun’s armpit. Jaehyun hopes he doesn’t mind the smell, wonders what he thinks of his scent.

After all, the next step in cementing the bonds of their new pack is to scent-mark each other. It’d be a real bummer if the pack leader didn’t like his scent.

Taeil is the one to instigate the scenting. He pulls Yuta in for a hug and brushes the scent glands on their necks together. Haechan and Jaemin are quick to join in. The sight of the pups trying to scent each other tugs a smile onto Jaehyun’s face. They don’t yet have scents to leave on each other, but the attempt to mimic the presented members is endearingly optimistic.

When Mark slings an arm around Jaehyun’s shoulder, he dutifully lets the pup go through the motions of scent-marking him, before he turns to Winwin. He’s always felt a certain kinship with Winwin. They’re the same age, and they’re both betas. _Beta bros,_ thinks Jaehyun in a monotone echo of Taeil’s earlier declaration as he and Winwin scent each other.

As the pack goes through the ritual of scent-bonding, Jaehyun can’t help but resent the fact that Doyoung isn’t there. _He should be here. He should be in the pack. He should be in 127._ It’s ludicrous that he isn’t. He wants to snap at everyone else for celebrating, for enjoying themselves when the pack feels so far from being complete. Bitter and lonely, Jaehyun curls up on the armchair in the corner of the living room by himself.

Taeyong brings his comforter out to the living room and invites everyone to snuggle on it. While Taeil and Winwin cuddle with the pups on the floor, Jaehyun watches Taeyong and Yuta scent each other. There is an undercurrent of competitive posturing between the alphas that Jaehyun finds intriguing. _Is something going there?_ he wonders.

Then Taeyong turns his attention to him, asks him why he isn’t cuddling with everyone else.

 _Because not everyone else is here!_ Jaehyun wants to snarl. _What about Doyoung?_ He looks away, focusing his attention on the sleeve where his sweater has a loose thread. “I just…” he begins, but he doesn’t have any explanation that he’s willing to say aloud.

Luckily, Yuta saves him from Taeyong’s probing stare by dramatically throwing himself into the middle of the pile of others curled up together on the floor. “C’mon, Jaehyunnie, don’t you want to snuggle with everyone?” he asks.

And, well, snuggling does sound nice, actually, so Jaehyun gets to his feet and makes his way over to join Yuta and everyone else on the floor. Chenle and Jaemin immediately cuddle up to him. Jaehyun wraps his arms around them and agrees, “It’s nice.”

It _is_ nice, even if not as fulfilling as Jaehyun had hoped it would be.

Later, when Taeyong and Winwin go to walk the dreamies back to their dorm, Jaehyun looks at Yuta sitting on the couch and, before he can second-guess himself, he walks over to him and curls up next to him. Yuta immediately wraps an arm around him. “It’s been a big year, huh?” Yuta says lightly.

“Mmm,” replies Jaehyun, a noncommittal noise.

Yuta glances at him, eyes sharp and looking right through him. “You miss Doyoung,” he says, and it’s not even phrased as a question.

“Yes,” Jaehyun admits.

Pulling him a little closer, Yuta lets his hand slip up under the hem of Jaehyun’s sweater to rub comforting circles on his lower back. “You don’t smell like him anymore, I noticed,” he says, tone curious but not demanding.

“We decided to let our claiming bites lapse,” Jaehyun tells him. He closes his eyes, enjoys the sensation of Yuta’s gentle touch. “It…it just wouldn’t make sense anymore.”

“What, because of scheduling?” asks Yuta incredulously. When Jaehyun nods, he scoffs. “You broke up over _scheduling_?”

Jaehyun’s eyes snap back open at Yuta’s question. “We didn’t break up, because we were never in a relationship,” he says stiffly.

Yuta arches an eyebrow. “Um, weren’t you, though?”

“We were just claiming each other,” says Jaehyun. “We weren’t, like, boyfriends or anything.” At least, he doesn’t think they were. They never discussed the exact nature of their relationship, so despite all of Jaehyun’s silent wishing, they were never more than just two good friends who exclusively slept with each other.

Before Yuta can argue the point, Taeyong and Winwin return, and the latter joins them on the couch to snuggle up on Yuta’s other side. “I’m glad we have a real pack now,” he says quietly.

Jaehyun smiles. He looks at Taeyong who is standing on the other side of the living room watching the three of them together on the couch. _An ideal lead alpha,_ he muses, admiring the strong lines of his body and the protective glint in his eye. “I’m glad too,” he tells Winwin, and he is.

Having the love and support of a pack around him makes the pain of losing Doyoung not ache so badly.

And as life continues, it makes the adjustment to being a fully debuted idol group a little more manageable too. Between interviews and stages, it’s comforting to come home every day with a group of other boys who know exactly what he’s going through, who are always there for him with hugs and food and something fun.

Taeyong and Yuta are the only ones in the pack to have cycles, and Jaehyun finds himself wondering who each of them will ask for when the time comes. He’s not sure about Taeyong, never really paid attention to who the older boy sought out for his ruts after he let his claim with Ten lapse, but he figures it’s likely Yuta will want him, right? They have, after all, a history.

It may not be the rosiest history—Jaehyun still blushes to think of his one heat where he selfishly asked Doyoung to stay and watch Yuta fuck him—but they’re still good friends. Yuta has become Jaehyun’s favorite cuddling partner, his go-to when he wants a little physical affection or words of reassurance.

Taeyong’s rut comes first. Yuta graciously moves to the living room couch for the duration of it, and at Taeyong’s request, Taeil spends the time with him. Jaehyun feels strangely jealous. _Why not me? Aren’t I attractive?_ Management is constantly waxing poetic about his visuals. Why wouldn’t Taeyong want him?

It’s worse a few weeks later when Yuta’s rut begins, and he asks for Winwin.

Jaehyun hadn’t even realized how badly he wanted to be chosen, until he hadn’t been. He spends the week of Yuta’s rut curled up miserably in his own bed, trying not to look at Winwin’s empty one. Again he wonders, _Why not me?_

Taeil picks up on his distress from the way his scent has soured slightly. The older beta brings a blanket and a bowl of pretzels over to him, turns on an action flick for them to watch together. He doesn’t ask why Jaehyun is upset, which Jaehyun appreciates. He feels stupid for being jealous in pack full of unclaimed members.

When Yuta and Winwin finally emerge from the former’s room, Jaehyun does his best to not let his own upset feelings ruin the mood, because they both look so blissed out. He wants to snuggle up to Yuta, but he knows now isn’t the time for that. Instead, he wraps his arms around himself, squeezes his shoulder, tries not to think about how long it’s been since his claiming bite from Doyoung disappeared.

 _Shouldn’t you be over that by now?_ he asks himself despairingly.

He wants desperately to feel like he belongs. Even if it’s not to Doyoung. He itches for a claiming bite. _Maybe I could ask Taeyong for one,_ he muses. Taeyong is beautiful, his presence is powerful, and he is undeniably caring towards the rest of the pack. There’s a reason they asked him to be the lead alpha.

But he suspects that Taeyong would be too worried about it looking like he was playing favorites, as the pack’s leader, to give him a claiming bite, and anyways, they’ve never even slept together, so it would be a weird request to make, wouldn’t it?

 _Yuta would be easier to convince,_ determines Jaehyun. Not only that, but he knows Yuta better. They’ve already established a level of intimacy and trust that Jaehyun doesn’t yet have with anyone else in the pack.

He waits until a couple of weeks have passed since Yuta’s rut, then he attaches himself to the alpha’s side. He knows how to be alluring. Charming others is a skill that been trained into him by the company, though he’s not sure how well it will work on own of his own group members.

Yuta doesn’t comment on his new clinginess, but rather feeds it with additional hugs, extra little touches that make Jaehyun tingle with acceptance. It doesn’t take long for the kissing to begin. Jaehyun starts it, pressing his lips quickly against Yuta’s ear before they go onstage. Three days later finds the two of them making out in an empty practice room.

“You’re so affectionate these days,” teases Yuta, running his fingers through Jaehyun’s hair before pulling him in for another kiss.

“You like it,” Jaehyun teases back. He bites down playfully on Yuta’s bottom lip and is rewarded with a quiet moan. He tries to imagine the alpha’s scent clinging to him. It’s not as sweet or as comforting as Doyoung’s, but Jaehyun still likes it.

They keep kissing for another week or so, before Jaehyun decides to plunge forward with his quest to for a claiming bite. It’s a lazy Sunday and most of the members are out of the dorm for the day, with the exception of the two of them—and also Mark, but the younger boy is locked away with his guitar in his own room, so Jaehyun doesn’t think it’ll be an issue.

Sitting at the dining room table, Jaehyun thinks about the cloying and compelling tone that Ten always adopts whenever he wants someone to do something for him, and doing his best to channel that, he calls out, “Yuta-hyung?”

Yuta appears in an instant, hastening from his room the moment he heard Jaehyun’s voice. “What’s up?” he asks and slides into the chair next to Jaehyun.

“Why’d you ask for Winwin during your rut?” asks Jaehyun. He knows he sounds like a petulant child, but he’s past the point of caring.

Yuta laughs. “What, were you jealous?”

“Yes,” Jaehyun says simply.

“Oh!” There is no mistaking the surprise in Yuta’s voice. “I… I sort of didn’t think you’d want me to ask for you, because of, um…”

Jaehyun pouts, and hopes he isn’t overplaying it. “Well, I did. I do,” he says.

“I guess I know that now,” says Yuta. His cheeks have gone slightly pink, and Jaehyun thinks it looks so, so endearing. “I’ve, uh, I’ve been enjoying kissing you.”

“I have been too. And I don’t want you to ask for Winwin in the future, or Taeil,” says Jaehyun seriously. “I want you to ask for me. Just for me.”

Yuta smiles, indulgent. “It almost sounds like you’re asking me for a claiming bite,” he says and ruffles Jaehyun’s hair affectionately.

Jaehyun smiles back. “I am.”

“Oh!”

It’s not often that Jaehyun can catch Yuta by surprise, but he’s done it twice in this conversation alone.

“Jaehyun… where is this coming from?” asks Yuta, voice gentle.

“Well, I really hated it when Winwin helped you with your rut.” A truth. “And I trust you.” Another truth. “And I’ve always been attracted to you.” Perhaps less true than the first two statements, but not a lie either.

“I’m not Doyoung,” Yuta tells him, naming the elephant in the room.

Jaehyun nods. “I know. He’s not here,” he says firmly. “I’m moving on.”

Yuta frowns, looks like he wants to argue the point, but doesn’t say anything.

“I want this,” Jaehyun assures him. He reaches out to take Yuta’s hands in his. “I want you.”

“You’re sure?” asks Yuta, smoothing his thumb over Jaehyun’s knuckles.

Jaehyun leans in and presses a kiss to the corner of Yuta’s mouth. “I want to be yours,” he whispers.

Yuta turns his head to kiss him back. He thinks for a long moment, and then—“Okay. We can exchange claiming bites.”

Jaehyun beams at him. “Thank you,” he says, then says it again, feeling like once wasn’t enough. “Thank you.”

He follows Yuta to his room, sits down on Yuta’s bed, wraps his arms around Yuta’s shoulders and pulls him in for a deep kiss. They let their hands wander as they kiss. Jaehyun admires the lean muscles of Yuta’s body with tender fingers, and Yuta sneaks a hand down Jaehyun’s pants.

 _This,_ thinks Jaehyun, _is just what I need._

Being wanted. Being desired. Belonging. This is the feeling he was chasing with Yuta.

“Where do you want me to bite you?” asks Yuta between fervent kisses.

 _Anywhere but my shoulder,_ Jaehyun’s brain supplies helpfully. He can’t stomach the thought of Yuta putting his claiming bite on the same spot that Doyoung had. “How about on the back of my thigh?”

“Thigh sounds good.” Yuta slides Jaehyun’s pants down and lowers himself to put his mouth just above the back of Jaehyun’s knee. “Here?” he asks against the skin.

“Yeah, that’s good,” Jaehyun tells him. It’s decently far away from his intercrural scent gland and located somewhere unlikely to be seen in public. It doesn’t hurt so much when Yuta bites him. Even though though it’s been months since the last time he’s been bitten, the year and half he and Doyoung spent maintaining their claim has given him something of a tolerance to that specific type of pain.

After biting him, Yuta rests his cheek against Jaehyun’s thigh and looks up at him. “You’re claimed now,” he says softly.

Jaehyun leans down to kiss him. “Where do you want yours?” he asks.

“Mmm, thigh works for me too,” says Yuta with an easy grin. “Maybe a little higher up though, in case I wanna wear short shorts.”

Laughing, Jaehyun agrees and helps Yuta out of his pants so he can access the decided upon patch of skin. When he bites down, Yuta lets out a hiss of pain, and Jaehyun realizes that this may very well be the first time the alpha has ever received a claiming bite. The thought makes Jaehyun feel even more special.

“Now we match,” he tells Yuta, running his thumb over the fresh bite on Yuta’s thigh.

Yuta laughs and places his hand on top of Jaehyun’s. “Now we match,” he echoes.

 _He really does have the most enchanting smile,_ thinks Jaehyun fondly. He kisses Yuta, delights in the sensation of being with him, being together, being claimed. _I’m moving on._

That night, lying in bed, Jaehyun listens to the quiet sounds of Taeil and Winwin falling asleep and thinks about Yuta. _He’s gorgeous and caring and now he’s mine. I’m his._ Feeling quite proud of himself, he flips over in bed, then flips over a second time because of an ache in his shoulder.

His shoulder.

He bolts upright with a gasp. Unsettled, he slips out of bed and tiptoes to the bathroom. At such a late hour, at least it’s guaranteed to not be occupied despite the seven boys who share it.

Inside the bathroom, he locks the door behind him and stares miserably at his reflection in the mirror. _I look stupidly haggard for someone who should be so happy,_ he thinks. Pulling off his shirt, he twists around to examine his shoulder in the mirror. As expected, it’s perfectly intact, not a single blemish on his skin.

Still feeling out of sorts, he puts his shirt back on and returns to his bed, but sleep doesn’t come easy to him. His lapsed claiming bite from Doyoung is like a phantom limb. He knows it isn’t there anymore but sometimes he swears he can still feel it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, writing this yujae relationship: “Boy, oh boy, this is very healthy, and there is no way this will end badly.”
> 
> (Yes, Doyoung and Jaehyun were those two friends with benefits who both wished they were boyfriends but were both too afraid of ruining their friendship to say anything. RIP.)
> 
> Having now posted three chapters, this is officially the longest fic posted so far in the series. I hope you're liking it! Leave a comment if you feel so inclined :)


	4. Doyoung, 2017

When management informs him and Johnny that they’ll be joining 127, Doyoung’s first instinct is to message Jaehyun. They’ve only seen each other in the briefest of passing moments since Jaehyun debuted with 127 a year ago, but they still keep in touch.

Well, mostly.

Sometimes.

A little bit less every day.

Doyoung knows that Jaehyun is busy, knows that Jaehyun isn’t beholden to him in any way, but the gradual drop off in their communication over the months still stings. He messages him anyways, because surely Jaehyun will be thrilled by the news. Doyoung certainly is.

It’s nothing against the various jobs the company has set up for him or the trainees they have him working with, but Doyoung has always felt bitter over his exclusion from 127. It’s the group he was clearly meant to be in, the pack he knows he should belong to. And now he finally will.

Jaehyun doesn’t reply, and Doyoung tries his best not to take it personally. _I’m sure he’s just busy,_ he tells himself, but it gets harder to believe when the days of silence turn into weeks of silence, and then Doyoung doesn’t have to worry about it anymore because they’re reuniting in the practice room for the first rehearsal with the new nine-person 127 lineup.

Doyoung enters the room—a room he has sung and danced and trained in for years, but somehow feels completely new again—on quiet footsteps and with a nervous energy. He knows there’s no reason for him to be on edge. He reminds himself that he knows every member in 127, so he doesn’t have to worry about impressing anyone. And he’s prepared extensively to join them.

Nothing could have prepared him for the guilty look on Jaehyun’s face when he sees him.

There’s barely any time to exchange happy greetings with the rest of the group—Taeil bounces over to give him a hug, and Haechan waves—before a manager begins a concise explainer on the planned 127 comeback. The company has never been a believer in leisure. Every second counts. A dance instructor comes in to put them through their paces, learning the choreography to a song they haven’t even recorded yet.

It isn’t until the first pre-chorus, a segment that the manager says will be sung by Jaehyun and Doyoung, that the choreography brings the two of them close to each other, and Doyoung is able to smell Jaehyun for the first time. There’s the scents of the rest of the pack that Doyoung is not yet a part of clinging to him, and something else lying underneath it all. It’s faint, but Doyoung is still attuned to Jaehyun’s scent, and he knows that it’s not just Jaehyun that he’s smelling on the younger boy.

He knows immediately that Jaehyun has a claiming bite from Yuta.

A profound sense of betrayal floods Doyoung’s system, and he stumbles over the next few steps of the choreography. Mark steadies with him a hand on his back. “You okay, hyung?” he asks, and Doyoung nods but his mind is a mess.

 _How long did he wait before moving onto Yuta?_ It’s an ugly, unfair thought, and he knows it, but how can he not wonder, when he’s always been jealous of the bond between Yuta and Jaehyun.

They get a break in the afternoon. The dance instructor and the rest of the members scoot out of the room, to drink water or grab a snack or get some fresh air. Doyoung, meanwhile, just collapses onto the floor, because he feels like he always has to work five times harder when it comes to dancing.

As luck would have it, Jaehyun is the first to return the practice room. His eyes fly wide when he sees that there’s no on else there but Doyoung and he moves to immediately leave again, but Doyoung stops him with a soft, “Please, don’t.”

Closing the door behind him, Jaehyun reluctantly steps closer to Doyoung. The air between them is heavy. Uncomfortable. So different from the easy companionship they once shared.

“Come sit.” Doyoung beckons, patting the floor next to him.

Jaehyun sits, leaving a meter of space between them. The gap has never felt so wide.

Doyoung gives him a look. “So, uh, Yuta, huh?”

Jaehyun flinches, can’t meet his eyes. “Yeah,” he says quietly.

“Is that why you’ve been avoiding me?” asks Doyoung. He’s trying hard not to sound angry, not to sound hurt.

“Um,” says Jaehyun. He glances quickly at Doyoung’s face, then away again. “Yes.”

Doyoung is almost impressed with how small and sheepish he manages to sound. Sighing, he tells Jaehyun, “You don’t have to avoid me. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

They only ever were friends, weren’t they?

“I missed you,” Jaehyun whispers, finally turning to look Doyoung full in the eyes.

Doyoung smiles though he knows it comes out looking sad. “I missed you too.”

Jaehyun reaches a hand towards him, hesitant and unsure, and Doyoung reaches for him too, and then—

And then the door opens. Jaehyun snatches his hand back faster than Doyoung would have thought possible. It’s Yuta, because of course it’s Yuta. Jaehyun gets to his feet and walks over to Yuta.

It’s clear where his loyalties lie now.

A few days later, Doyoung and Johnny move in with the rest of 127. It’s a new dorm for the group, with the dreamies in another unit on the same floor. Everyone comes together in the 127 common area for dinner, which Doyoung offers to cook. He wants his new pack to appreciate him.

Jaehyun volunteers to help him cook. He’s trying—bless his heart—he’s clearly trying so hard to resume something of a normal friendship with Doyoung, so Doyoung lets him. He knows Jaehyun is a good cook after all, and as it turns out, they still work well together, moving easily around each other in the kitchen.

Doyoung can feel Taeyong’s eyes on them while they cook. He wonders if the alpha, who has always been strangely oblivious to the nature of Doyoung and Jaehyun’s relationship, can see the apology in Jaehyun’s body language, or if it’s obvious only to him that Jaehyun feels guilty and is trying to make it up to him. _It’ll be okay,_ Doyoung tells himself. _I’ll be okay._ He just can’t stand smelling Yuta on Jaehyun, but aside from that, he can almost pretend that everything is fine.

After dinner, everyone welcomes Doyoung and Johnny into the pack though the ritual of scent-bonding. Doyoung exchanges scents with Taeil, Johnny, and Winwin, goes through the motions with the pups, before turning to Yuta.

There is something that looks hideously like pity in the older boy’s eyes. Doyoung hates it. He doesn’t want Yuta’s pity. He doesn’t want anyone’s pity. He makes himself smile and gives Yuta a hug. As they brush together, Doyoung thinks he hears Yuta whisper the quietest, “I’m sorry,” but then Yuta is pulling back with a tight smile, and he can’t be sure.

 _Why are you sorry?_ Doyoung wants to ask. _It’s not like you did it to hurt me. Right?_

Next is Jaehyun, which is harder. It’s harder to ignore the rift that has opened up between them when they hug and Jaehyun’s whole body is stiff and tense in Doyoung’s arms. They scent each other, and Doyoung can’t help but to run his hand over Jaehyun’s shoulder—a low blow, perhaps, to remind him of the claiming bite that used to be there. As if by instinct, Jaehyun lets his own hand brush over Doyoung’s hip. It’s almost like they’re saying, _We were once something._

Taeyong is the last to scent him. The pack leader holds him tightly. His embrace is warm and affectionate, a stark contrast to Jaehyun’s. It makes Doyoung feel loved. He hadn’t realized how much he had been aching to feel loved until that moment. Perhaps that is what drives him to press a featherlight kiss to Taeyong’s scent gland.

Doyoung has always tracked his heat cycle obsessively. He knows that he’ll be due for a heat about three weeks after he moves into the new 127 dorm. Because he is a considerate roommate, he gives Taeyong and Yuta plenty of warning.

Yuta gives him a long, lingering look that reminds Doyoung annoyingly of the time, two years earlier, when Doyoung had sat and watched Yuta help Jaehyun through a heat. Flushing, Doyoung turns to Taeyong, who is quick to assure him that _of course_ he and Yuta will clear out of their shared room when the time comes and not to hesitate to let him know if he needs anything. Clearly, he takes his role as the pack’s lead alpha very seriously.

The closer Doyoung gets to the start of his heat, the stronger the urge to nest becomes. He begins gathering his extra sweaters and hoodies, piling them on his bed in addition to his comforter. He really wants to steal a blanket from Jaehyun’s bed to add to his nest, but he knows that wouldn’t be appropriate. _He’s claimed by Yuta now,_ he reminds himself bitterly.

He can’t blame Jaehyun for his choices. Really he can’t. But he’d be lying if he said it didn’t still hurt.

The day before his heat is due, Doyoung comes home to discover one of Taeyong’s tee-shirts thrown haphazardly on his bed, and Doyoung sucks in a sharp breath. Honestly, it’s beyond rude to disrupt an omega’s nesting habit. He snatches up the shirt and marches into the kitchen, where Taeyong has just finished cooking noodles. “What the fuck!” he barks out, shaking the shirt in Taeyong’s face.

Taeyong looks surprised by his outburst, as do Johnny and Taeil, who are watching from the dining table with wide eyes. Doyoung knows he’s making a scene, but he can’t quite bring himself to care. “Is there a problem?” asks Taeyong slowly.

“Yes, there’s a problem!” hisses Doyoung. “Why are you leaving your dirty clothing on my bed?”

“I thought… aren’t you nesting?” Taeyong asks, brow furrowing with confusion.

Doyoung shakes the shirt more furiously. “Yes!” he exclaims. “So _why_ this?”

Strangely, Taeyong seems to shrink in the face of his anger. “I thought you might want it for your nest?” he offers timidly.

The question takes all of the wind out of Doyoung’s sails. “What? Why would I want—what?” he asks and lets his hand, still clenched around the shirt Taeyong had left on his bed, drop anticlimactically to his side.

“Well, I know you’re not claiming with anyone right now, but you’re _our_ omega, the pack’s, I mean,” explains Taeyong haltingly. “And you’re our first omega, so I wasn’t sure. I mean, I did some reading about omegas. And it said that omegas like that, sometimes, to nest with stuff that smells like their packmates.”

The idea of Taeyong doing research on the habits of omegas just for him is… well, Doyoung isn’t sure how it makes him feel. “You want me to add your used tee-shirt to my nest?” he asks, just to make sure he’s reading the situation correctly.

“No!” Taeyong blurts out, then immediately clarifies, “I mean, _yes_ , but not just mine. I thought, maybe you’d want something from everyone in the pack? Come on, guys, help me out here.” The last part is directed to Taeil and Johnny, who Doyoung had honestly forgotten were playing witness to their argument.

“Sure. Let me go grab a hoodie or something,” says Taeil good-naturedly. He gets to his feet.

Johnny, who is clearly trying to hold back laughter, nods in agreement. “Yeah, if that’s what Doyoungie wants.”

 _Is that what Doyoungie wants?_ wonders Doyoung. He feels like the conversation has moved too quickly, and his brain still needs to catch up. He looks down at the shirt in his hand. “Um,” he says, then he glances at Taeyong.

The alpha’s face is hopeful, like he wants nothing more than for Doyoung to nest with everyone’s clothing, and Doyoung, who as the lone omega has gotten quite used to having his every want catered to by the rest of the pack, finds that he wants to please him. He isn’t sure where the urge to make Taeyong proud of him is coming from, but he decides not to question it.

“Sure,” he says slowly. “That sounds… that’d be nice.”

Taeyong beams at him, and Doyoung preens internally at the attention. It’s his biology, he decides, the omega in him that craves acceptance from the pack’s lead alpha. Taeyong swoops in to give him a brief, crushing hug before rushing off with a promise to get some clothing from everyone.

Once Taeyong has left, calling for Taeil and Winwin to aid him in his clothing collection quest, Doyoung releases a breath he hadn’t even realized he had been holding. He lifts the tee-shirt Taeyong left him and gives it a tentative sniff, trying to decide how he feels about the scent.

At the dining table, Johnny bursts into laughter.

Blushing, Doyoung turns to him, feeling defensive. “What?”

“Does Taeyongie’s shirt smell good?” asks Johnny with an innocent grin.

“Aren’t you supposed to be getting something of yours for my nest too?” Doyoung asks irritatedly.

Johnny rolls his eyes but gets up anyways. “You’ve gotten a bit too used to being pampered by everyone else in the pack,” he says, voice affectionate rather than annoyed. “Our precious omega.”

Doyoung scoffs at the epithet and follows Johnny to the beta’s bedroom to watch him rummage through his hamper for a shirt to give him. “I can’t imagine I’ll be the only omega in the pack for long,” he points out. “All of the dreamies are due to present anytime now.”

“There’s no guarantee that any of them will be omegas,” Johnny reminds him.

“Yeah, well. I know that Taeyong’s convinced that Jaemin will be an omega, but personally, I’d put my money on Jisung,” says Doyoung breezily. “If we were betting on their presentations. Which we aren’t, obviously, because that’d be pretty fucked up, wouldn’t it?”

Johnny laughs and hands him a long-sleeved shirt. “Will this do?”

“Mmm, I’ll accept it,” Doyoung teases and takes the shirt into his hand with Taeyong’s. The scentsof the two pack members mingle together pleasantly.

“And, uh, look, I don’t want to assume anything, but should I expect you asking for me when the time comes?” asks Johnny, rubbing the back of his neck with awkward cough. “No hard feelings, obviously, if you were planning on asking Taeyong.”

Doyoung blinks at him. It’s true that for the past year, before they got added to 127, he had gone to Johnny more frequently than anyone else during his heats—Kun, on occasion, but mostly he had sought out Johnny. It makes sense that Johnny would wonder about that. The second half of what he said makes less sense to Doyoung. “Taeyong?” he asks in confusion.

Johnny raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t say anything. Doyoung stares at back at him in a perplexed sort of silent standoff, before Johnny sighs and begins, “Well, aren’t the two of you…”

“Aren’t the two of us _what_?” asks Doyoung, his voice coming out colder and more venomous than intended. He isn’t anything with any of the members of the pack.

Flinching at his tone, Johnny looks away, then says, “You’ve just seemed close recently. That’s all. And I know he’s fond of you.”

“I thought you were all fond of me,” Doyoung retorts, feeling uneasy but doing his best to stay light-hearted. “Your precious omega and all that.”

“I guess that could be it,” admits Johnny. “But the two of you just seem… I don’t know, like you’ve been flirting, maybe.”

The statement shocks Doyoung. Racking his brain, his tries to recall a moment with Taeyong that one might qualify as flirting and comes up short. He and Taeyong have always been firm friends. They’ve have always worked well together. They’re evenly matched in so many regards. But that’s nothing new. Sure, they’ve been cuddly and affectionate with each other recently, but it’s not flirting. Is it?

Ignorant to Doyoung’s inner turmoil, Johnny blithely continues, “Plus, the two of you have that whole ‘pack parents’ thing going on.”

Doyoung nearly chokes on his tongue. “The _what_?”

“You know, the thing where you both act like such moms to the rest of the pack,” explains Johnny with a grin.

“Moms?” Doyoung sputters.

Johnny’s grin widens. “Yeah, like, you’re our omega mom and Taeyong is our alpha mom,” he says, a bit too gleefully for Doyoung’s liking.

“Say it more weirdly, why don’t you?” mutters Doyoung. He can feel his face heating up in a blush for some unknown reason. “There’s nothing going between Taeyong and me. Sorry to ruin your little mommy fantasy.”

“Now who’s making it sound weird?” Johnny shoots back, laughing. “Okay, but seriously, you're not planning on asking Taeyong to help you with your heat?”

“I haven’t thought about it yet,” replies Doyoung evasively. “Who I might want, I mean.”

Johnny accepts that answer, and as Doyoung hurries back to his own room with the two shirts, he chides himself for the lie, but what else was he supposed to tell Johnny? The truth? _There’s only one person here that I want and he’s already claimed by someone else, so now I don’t know what I’m going to do._ No thank you.

He throws the shirts down on his bed and swallows a scream of frustration. Before he can let himself wallow in self-pity, Taeyong comes in a bundle of clothes. “For you,” he tells Doyoung and dumps the clothing into his arms with a bright smile.

There are two scents missing: Yuta’s and Jaehyun’s. Doyoung supposes that was to be expected, really. _They’re claiming after all._ He sets the clothing on his bed and thanks Taeyong. “I really appreciate you doing all of this for me.”

“Anything for our Doyoungie,” replies Taeyong, making a kissy face at him before moving to leave again.

Thinking about what Johnny had said, Doyoung catches Taeyong’s arm in his hand and stares hard at his face, tries to imagine wanting him. He had never really given himself the opportunity to consider being attracted to him, between Taeyong and Ten’s claiming bites, then his and Jaehyun’s. But he can’t deny that Taeyong is appealing. _I could ask for him when my heat starts,_ he knows. _He’d say yes._

Taeyong tilts his head to one side and smiles. “Is there anything else I can do you for you?” he asks.

 _You can kiss me,_ thinks Doyoung wildly. _You can love me._ But he doesn’t say any of that aloud. “No, I… I just wanted to say thank you again,” he says instead.

His heat starts the next day. True to their word, Taeyong and Yuta move out to the living room to give Doyoung his privacy. He curls up in his nest of borrowed clothing and thinks about who he might ask for, but his mind comes up blank. Why would he want anyone other than Jaehyun?

His body screams to be touched, burns to be knotted, but Doyoung refuses to give in to his biology. _I can make do by myself,_ he decides. He fucks himself with his fingers while grinding his achingly hard cock down against his mattress in a desperate sort of humping, and tries not to think about those who he can’t have. _I should’ve bought a toy,_ he thinks, irritated with himself for his lack of foresight. _Fingers aren’t enough._

He knows that all he’d have to do is ask and any of the others would be more than happy to help him. They were all so excited to finally have an omega in the pack; he practically had everyone eating out of his hand by the first day. But Doyoung is proud, and he’s stubborn, and he wants Jaehyun or no one at all.

The fact that he hasn’t requested anyone is stressing out the rest of the pack, he knows. Although no one has ventured into his room since his heat began, Doyoung can smell their distress and worry through the walls. He tries not to imagine what Jaehyun is doing, tries not to wonder if he can smell his pheromones, tries not to speculate on the effect it might be having on him.

Three days into it, it seems that at least one person has had enough of his obstinance. The door opens and Winwin slips into his room, quiet as a mouse. “Hyung?” he says softly. “Will you let me help you? Please?”

Doyoung wants to snarl at him to leave, but one look at the younger boy’s pleading face changes his mind in an instant. Winwin has ventured in purely with the intention of helping him, and Doyoung can tell that his heat’s strong pheromones have already begun to do a number on the beta. He can smell his rut starting.

“Yes,” whispers Doyoung. “You can help me.” He sits up in his bed, beckons Winwin to him.

Winwin slides closer to him and takes his hands in his. “I’ve got you now,” he promises earnestly, pressing their foreheads together.

Doyoung tilts his face forward to kiss him. Winwin is an exceedingly sweet lover. He lavishes affection on Doyoung’s body with a gentleness that Doyoung isn’t accustomed to. While he usually prefers something rougher and more bruising, he still enjoys the time with Winwin. It’s a nice change of pace.

He tangles his fingers into Winwin’s hair as they fuck, relishing the sensation of the beta’s hands wrapping around his cock until he’s coming, spilling over his stomach with a muted whimper. Winwin comes a moment later, moaning as he presses deep inside of Doyoung.

Winwin holds him, caressing his face and kissing his neck until his knot goes down. After he pulls out, Doyoung wraps his arms around him. “Thank you,” he murmurs, kisses his ear.

They cuddle on Doyoung’s bed, pressed close together in the mess of his nest. Curled around Winwin, Doyoung thinks, _This is manageable._ Appreciating the comfort and care Winwin has given him, he kisses the younger boy’s hair. _I don’t need Jaehyun to be happy._

Though Doyoung doesn’t know it yet, Jaehyun and Yuta will let their claiming bites lapse by year’s end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the song/choreography mentioned early in this chapter is “Limitless.” This last chapter dovetails nicely with [Small, but Knowing](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28021260), a short general fic about Chenle’s observations of the pack around the same time.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who left comments on the last chapter—you’re all angels! I wasn’t kidding with the “Unresolved Ending” tag, but I am working on a direct sequel to this fic from Yuta’s POV that will answer some of the unknowns here.
> 
>  **UPDATE:** The Yuta sequel is now posted, [Maybe If I Tell Myself Enough](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28616535). Here's a little snippet: 
> 
> _Taeyong had presented not long after the two of them became trainees, but it didn’t really mean anything to Yuta until he also presented as an alpha a year later. They were the only two alphas in their cohort, and Yuta felt constantly aware of the fact._
> 
> _It probably didn’t help that for a while, there was only one omega in their group. And Ten had chosen to spend his heats with Taeyong because he had presented first—or maybe just because he was inherently better than Yuta somehow. The feelings of inferiority only intensified when the two claimed each other. “I just think it’s a little self-centered of Taeyong to fucking put a claiming bite on the only omega we know,” Yuta had groused to Taeil more than once._
> 
> _But then Jaehyun had presented. And Jaehyun had chosen him. Not one of the older betas. Not Taeyong. He had wanted Yuta, and from that moment on, he was forever going to be lodged in Yuta’s heart as someone special._
> 
> If you're curious, I've written some commentary about this fic, which can be found on tumblr [here](https://sinchun.tumblr.com/commentary-ysoms) :3


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